According to a report in the Financial Times yesterday, the U.S. is in discussion with a number of European members of NATO about the possibilities of deploying U.S. nuclear weapons on their territory, though it says that a decision is a long way off. The talks “are highly confidential and may not lead to any changes in nuclear-sharing arrangements,” FT says.
Two of FT’s sources said the openness to discussing an expansion was intended to show the US commitment to providing a nuclear umbrella even as NATO allies were pushed to shoulder more of the conventional defense burden. Countries on NATO’s eastern flank including Poland and some Baltic states were interested in potentially hosting DCA bases, the people said.
Finland is not mentioned, though there reportedly has been some discussion there of allowing NATO nuclear weapons, which could be French or American, on Finnish territory under some circumstances.
There have been similar discussions among a number of European nations about gathering under the French nuclear umbrella. Eight European countries (Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Sweden) have so far agreed to participate in this “forward deterrence” proposed by France.
